Procter & Gamble to turn the Tide with 100% wind power

As part of the pledge, P&G agreed to achieve 30 percent renewable energy to power its plants globally by 2020, with a long term vision to use 100 percent renewable energy.

Consumer product giant Procter & Gamble has announced plans to meet its electricity demands by using 100 percent wind power to make iconic fabric and home care brands, such as Tide and Dawn.

The sustainable milestone is possible thanks to a new partnership with EDF Renewable Energy which will see a new Texas based wind farm generate 370,000 MWh of electricity each year. The wind farm will be fully operational in December 2016.

The partnership was announced at the White House, as P&G became a signatory of the ‘American Business Act on Climate Pledge’. As part of the pledge, P&G agreed to achieve 30 percent renewable energy to power its plants globally by 2020, with a long term vision to use 100 percent renewable energy. This comes on the heels of a September announcement where P&G committed to reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020.

One of the key actions on the journey to rely more on renewable energy is to partner with EDF RE to build a wind farm in Cooke County, Texas. This will generate 370,000 MWh of electricity per year – enough to meet electricity demands for all of P&G’s North American fabric and home care plants, where iconic brands such as Tide, Gain, Downy, Dawn, Cascade, Febreze, and Mr. Clean are produced.

The amount of power generated from the partnership will be equivalent to avoiding more than 200,000 metric tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually. This equals one percent of the national annual reduction target for electricity emissions called for in the White House Clean Power Plan.

The electricity consumption of the plants makes up about half of their total energy consumption. The electricity will be exclusively generated by wind power. The plants will also continue to use natural gas for process heating and comfort heating during winter.

He continued: “At P&G, when it comes to sustainability, actions speak louder than words and this move is a significant milestone in delivering that promise. It is incredible that the wind farm will generate enough electricity for all our P&G Fabric and Home Care plants; to put that in context: This is enough electricity to wash a million loads of laundry.”

Tristan Grimbert, CEO and President of EDF RE stated: “The participation of P&G to directly procure wind power is a concrete action that demonstrates their understanding of the benefits of renewable energy.

“Wind not only emits zero greenhouse gas emissions, but also delivers long-term energy price stability,” he continues “P&G is leading one of the fastest growing markets in the renewable energy space and we are pleased to be their partner to reach their climate pledge goals.”

To celebrate the scale of the collaboration, P&G Fabric & Home Care and EDF RE have constructed a mini-wind farm in Washington DC. The installation is placed on the lawn in front of the Capitol Building and is made up of thousands of spinning pinwheels.